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One hundred people’s ninth favourite thing: [title of show] @swkplay

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[title of show] takes you back to a time before the fast paced social media where word of mouth for a positive show came from chat boards, video diaries or (god forbid) blogs. A simple staging makes it an ideal (and economical piece to stage), but it’s sweet and earnest take on just putting on a show, and putting it out there and taking a chance gives this show its heart. With a strong and energetic cast and endless musical theatre references, it’s hard to resist and it’s currently playing at the Southwark Playhouse .  It opens with Hunter (Jacob Fowler) and Jeff (Thomas Oxley) as struggling young writers in New York City. An upcoming New York Musical Theatre festival, inspires them to write an original musical within three weeks to make the deadline. As they discuss ideas, writers block, distractions and endless other good and bad musicals, an idea for a show emerges. Which is about writing a show for a musical theatre festival.  Their friends Heidi (Abbie Budden) and Susan (Mary Moor

Last chance: Fleabag @sohotheatre

Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Fleabag has had a return run at the Soho Theatre for the past few weeks. It is a raw uncompromising monologue about a young woman uncertain about her place in life and wondering whether being sex obsessed and masturbating late at night to pornography on the internet is all it is cracked up to be.

A hit at last year's Edinburgh Fringe, and a success at the Soho Theatre last September, this time around the production seems a bit slicker, and Waller-Bridge's performance has evolved to become a bit looser making the most of the comic and tragic potential of the material. It's in the main theatre this time however so it misses some of the intimacy from a smaller space. But it still delivers an emotional impact tackling subject matter that you don't normally see discussed amongst friends, let alone put up on stage.

Fleabag concludes today at 5pm at the Soho Theatre. If you missed it this time, hopefully it will be back again in the future. If Waller-Bridge isn't free, I would settle for a series of special guest Fleabags...





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